I'm not 100% sure but I think much of a carriage deal is based on percentages and not neccesarily a flat upfront figure. For instance X amount of cash upfront and then a percentage of the gross of future revenues derived from the show.
Mind you, this is a lot of supposition on my part but it makes sense that a deal could be structured along these lines.
In my opinion you are correct on all your assumptions. And yes I believe they have enough cash flow to fund current uplink operations. No need to dilute OR borrow or sell existing stock.
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